I want one

[PaulG]

Not an FJ, not a Yamaha  but I want one.

It fits my niche nicely - a big bore ADV that's good for more than just potholes and truly capable of off-roading - doesn't weigh as much as a small car - and for under $14K CAN

http://motorcycle.honda.ca/model/adventure/africatwin

It has been getting rave reviews from just about everyone in the industry - even the DCT (dual clutch transmission) version has been a revelation apparently (also apparently not available in the USA?  )

I would probably skip that option since it's about another $1K and a 25lb addition, and very complex and new technology (for bikes anyway).   But then again it would be a few years before I might rustle up the nerve to buy one, so by then hopefully it will have proven itself.

I always wanted to buy an original Africa Twin when they came out 20 yrs? ago, but were only available for 1 or 2 years in Canada.  Honda never bothered to pursue that market since in N/A (XL's being a different animal altogether).

Now my roof decides to leak.  I'm crossing my fingers until the spring until I replace it - which also means no upgrades for the FJ next year - new Avon Storms excepted of course.   


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fuetRPaZXEs

[ddlewis]

I'm kind of hung up on that bike too..

I'm far to cheap to buy new though, but come 2019 you might see a 2016 AT in my garage.  regular clutch please.  caveman no like dct.

[moparman70]

Are their no Transalps available --- the DCT model looks a little like its cousin I think

[Firehawk068]

I'll take mine in white! 

[Hersey289]

Sorry Paul but it's not for me. I just can't find a good line on it despite its technical prowess. That said I'm sure it is a good ride.
Rob

[PaulG]

Are their no Transalps available --- the DCT model looks a little like its cousin I think

My mistake.  It believe it was the Transalp they sold for a year or two here (1987).  I don't think the original Africa V-Twin was ever available over here.  Used Transalps are extremely rare.  Nice bike, but they fell short due to mushy suspensions I believe - like a lot did back then.

[moparman70]

[/quote]

Close --

[PaulG]

That's a nice example of a Transalp. Is it yours?  How old is that picture?  It looks like it's right off the showroom.   

[moparman70]

not mine -- found on google images -- although it was for sale on ebay per the site it was found on

[gumby302ho]

 I do love the bike but you need to be honest with yourself and ask '' Just how much dirt riding do I\will I ride in "? For when I feel like hitting the dirt I pull out my dual purpose XR650L, sure its not a Africa Twin but the twin is not a XR650L. The L will go places you would not want to take the AT, there are pro's and con's to every bike. The old boys told me there is no such thing as a '' Dual Purpose " motorcycle, as a young guy I said humbug, as an older gent now I think they were right. The moral of the story is this, ''We All Need Two Or More Bikes"!! If you want to play in the dirt, get a dirt bike, if your crossing the desert or want to glaze over pot holes on a gravel road, the AT is a head turner with balls to spare.

[PaulG]

I do recall saying (on this site no less) that I probably would not buy another big ADV bike after my '97 GS was totalled.

[PaulG]

Strike that - my laptop decided on it' own to freeze up and post by itself!   

Anyhow - to continue...

I do recall saying (on this site no less) that I probably would not buy another big ADV bike after my '97 GS was totalled.  Comparing an ADV to an XR (or similar) is apples and oranges.  When I first purchased the GS I never had any allusions of log hopping or dune riding etc.  It was never meant for that especially back then.  I would love to have an XR, but the stable is only so big.  I slowly became disillusioned with the path that manufacturers had taken - bigger, heavier, too much (?) power, too complex.  Even reading the odd copy of ADV Rider I soon realized it was mostly a platform for product placement, and being very thin on content.  I never could understand going to an ADV rally where there are literally hundreds of others, when the whole point of buying one of these bikes is to get away from all that.  But then again I'm not into huge gatherings of this type.  You wouldn't get me within 200 miles of the Sturgis rally.

What I did like about it was I could go the day or two to the start of my trip in relative comfort, then go off the beaten path to the logging roads of N. Ont.  I did these trips usually alone - as no one else I knew had a bike like this.  The last trip in '99 though, the wife and dog came along.  After the accident a lot of things changed. I was off the road for a few years, and when I got back into riding I chose the FJ instead of going back to a big ADV - though I seriously considered a KLR.  One reason I didn't was so the wife could go along with me.  Shouldn't have bothered as she rarely goes for a ride anymore.  Though she has dropped not so subtle hints "what about that big BMW I like with the speakers?" (a K1200)  Fuck that! I tell her. $25,000 after taxes?!

Just think of a well designed ADV bike as a different type of FJ.  It does several things quite well.  There is really only two or three well designed ADV bikes out there, and they are upwards of $20,000 now.  The Honda appeals to me on many levels, $5,000 cheaper is a good start (plus I've never owned a Honda....).  The FJ has 200,000 km on it now and is still plonking along.  It will need an overhaul in the near future.  The bodywork needs some serious attention, and I'm sure the engine will need some massaging before something catostrophic happens.  It might end up a case of full on moditus.  This will require me to take it off the road for a few seasons due to various reasons.

Maybe I'm just suffering a case of nostalgia, or a case of the rambles.  Here I am trying to convince myself to buy something that I thought I had lost interest in.  But theres nothing like being out in the middle of nowhere with your pup tent, single burner stove, taking a bath in a stream, and wondering while lying in the tent, "did I haul my food high enough into the tree in case a bear comes around?"

These are some of the things I miss:

Hwy 129 at the Mississagi River



A view from the Sultan Industrial Rd.



Boulder and Birch  The boulder is about 8 ft tall



The smell of freshly hewn cedar



A babbling brook



The view from my tent



Smarty : The Intrepid Traveller

[fj johnnie]

 Second picture looks like Arrowhead Provincial Park.

[PaulG]

FWIW this is a portion of the route on that trip.  Most of the pics were taken along the 556 to Sultan and south of that.  The campsite was at the Spanish Chutes where the "Unamed Rd." tag is.  They're not that good as this was '97 and I was using this dinky little Olympus snapshot camera with that stuff called Kodak sumthinerother.  The loop from The Soo to Webwood on the Trans Can. was about a day and a half.

There's hundreds of miles of these roads up there, most of them "private road for public use".  When I went it was mid Aug. - I came up from southern MI (Jackson) after the Michigan 500 CART race (the "glory years").  If anyone wishes to bomb around on these roads that's probably the best time of year.  No black flies and the skeeters weren't too bad.  All the lumbering (?) was on a two week summer shutdown, so I only encountered about two logging trucks the whole time, and maybe a couple of other cars/trucks.

On a smaller bike like an XR/DR/KLR you could run around at just about any speed you like.....   

If I get something for the off road - regardless of size - I'm definitely heading back that way before the bones get too brittle.


If you switch to Google Earth satellite view and zoom in, you'll get an idea of how much a whole lotta' nuthin is up there: 'cept trees, rivers, lakes, loons, sky and stars, wildlife that doesn't drink Red Bull....  Much like many places on this continent, it's only just "over there" on the other side of the road.   

https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/Sault+Ste.+Marie/47.6208116,-83.2079337/Sultan,+ON/Ramsey,+ON/47.3238894,-82.3917881/46.2695406,-81.8876091/@46.8793379,-83.9684979,8z/data=!4m23!4m22!1m5!1m1!1s0x4d36311508818c7b:0xc55b0eb513db21cd!2m2!1d-84.3460896!2d46.521858!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x4d3a2337e89dbcff:0x94ac065cd2c78bb1!2m2!1d-82.756869!2d47.593853!1m5!1m1!1s0x4d3a669472d4c9d5:0x7b455a706401762a!2m2!1d-82.339524!2d47.446392!1m0!1m0!3e0